Reason number 6,153,218 to hate lawyers

Just over a week ago a strange gust of wind hit the Indiana State Fair grandstands just before a scheduled concert. The wind was a precursor to a late summer storm. The wind toppled parts of the stage superstructure killing seven and wounding dozens of others. It was a tragedy of epic proportions. I was not surprised to see the families of the deceased file suit. I will withhold my opinion on the merits until after the analysis of the wreckage is complete. Sometimes bad things just happen.  We all know Mother Nature is a humorless bitch. If you are attending an outside concert and the sky is turning black and ugly, do you need someone to tell you to take cover?

OK, I guess I did not hold back on my opinion.

But this is too much:

The class action lawsuit was filed Monday in Marion Superior Court by the Indianapolis law of Cohen and Malad on behalf of Angela Fischer. She was not injured in the stage collapse but said in the lawsuit she suffered “severe emotional trauma” from witnessing the carnage. source  (emphasis mine)

Seriously, need I say more? I am not advocating we search out the lawyers involved or MS Fischer and beat them senseless and give them real trauma, but have we reached the point as a society where we are to be free from any unpleasantness in our lives? Is it really up to the taxpayers to pay because someone was disturbed by tragic events? Were the unfortunate who saw the event on the interwebz less traumatized? Should we all sue? If we put in some real tort reform -- charged the loser all court and opposing attorney fees, this nonsense would stop.

Hey, as a young child I was disturbed by an image in a pictorial history of WWII showing a beheaded Chinese with a cigarette in his mouth. Should I sue Japan?  How about the photographer?